The present disclosure relates to a separator that includes a rotatable centrifugal drum with a vertical axis of rotation and an inflow line for a centrifugable material to be processed. A drive spindle for the centrifugal drum is mounted rotatably by a mounting in a housing which is supported elastically on a machine stand. A drive device includes an electric drive motor having a stator and a rotor which is in alignment with the drive spindle. A lubricant system is configured to lubricate the mounting. The lubricant system includes a lubricant circuit to convey lubricant and has a lubricant collecting container.
Separators of this type, suitable particularly for industrial use in continuous operation, are known per se from the prior art. Among the known systems, there are structures, in which the drum, the drive spindle and the electric drive motor are connected rigidly to form a structural unit which is then supported elastically as a whole on a machine stand. Examples of such prior art are disclosed in FR 1 287 551, DE 1 057 979 and DE 43 14 440 C1.
Moreover, with regard to the technological background, also see WO 98/57751 A1, DE 103 14 118 B4, FR 938 919 A, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,428,460 B1 and 1,745,853 A.
DE 20 2005 001 539 U1 shows a separator having a drive belt, with a circulatory lubrication system for lubricating the spindle mounting. The system has a tube-like device, resembling a paring disk, for pumping away lubricant. The device serves for pumping lubricant, which emerges from the mounting of the drive spindle of the separator drive, via a treatment assembly into a lubricant sump, into which the drive spindle, designed as a hollow spindle, penetrates with its lower end. However, this arrangement still has a relatively long axial length.
WO 2007/125066 A1 discloses a generic separator with a direct drive. The drive device has an electric drive motor with a stator and a motor rotor which is in alignment with the drive spindle, the stator being connected rigidly to the machine stand, and the motor rotor, drive spindle, centrifugal drum and housing forming a unit which is supported elastically on the machine stand and which oscillates during operation. In this case, the bearing device is arranged between the motor and the drum. Furthermore, it is proposed therein to accommodate the lubrication of the bearing devices above a partition over the drive motor.
Against this background, the present disclosure relates to, among other things, to improving further the set-up and arrangement of the lubrication system of separators having a vertical axis of rotation.
The present disclosure thus relates to an embodiment comprising a separator that includes a rotatable centrifugal drum having a vertical axis of rotation and an inflow line for a material to be processed by the separator. Further included is a drive spindle for the drum rotatably mounted via a mounting to a housing supported elastically on a machine stand section. A drive device includes an electric drive motor having a stator and a rotor which is aligned with the drive spindle. A lubricant system is configured to lubricate the mounting. The lubricant system includes a lubricant circuit to convey lubricant and has a lubricant collecting container. The entire lubricant circuit and at least the lubricant collecting container is arranged axially above the rotor. The lubricant is conveyed out of the lubricant collecting container directly through a lubricant duct formed in the housing and extending into a region of or above a neck bearing of the mounting. The entire mounting of the drive spindle is arranged axially above a bottom of the lubricant collecting container. Another embodiment comprises a separator that includes a centrifugal drum having a vertical axis of rotation and an inflow line for a material to be processed by the separator. Further included is a drive spindle for the drum rotatably mounted via a mounting to a housing supported elastically on a machine stand section. A drive device includes a motor and a drive belt looping around the drive spindle. The entire mounting is arranged above the motor or the drive belt. A lubricant system is configured to lubricate the mounting and includes a lubricant circuit and has a lubricant collecting container. The entire lubricant circuit and at least the lubricant collecting container is arranged axially above one or both of a belt pulley or the drive belt that surrounds the drive spindle. The entire mounting of the drive spindle is arranged axially above a bottom of the lubricant collecting container.
This arrangement makes it possible to implement a form of construction of the drive device which is especially short in the vertical direction. Since the spindle is not used for lubricant circulation, it can be utilized for other tasks, such as a product supply, for example through a hollow spindle.
As noted above, the structures are suitable both for drive via a belt mechanism and for various types of direct drives with a drive motor arranged in an axial prolongation of the drive spindle or on the drive spindle.
The region of the motor can be separated in structural terms from elements of the lubricant system.
Moreover, the oil is conveyed in a confined space, directly in or sometimes also directly on the housing, to the neck bearing.
Moreover, the co-rotating lubricant collecting container affords an advantage that it can receive a relatively large oil volume in a confined space. That means, for the conveyance of oil, for example, a conveying member, resembling a paring disk, for the pumping of oil or a conveying tube for conveying into the mounting, can be integrated into said collecting container.
Other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following descriptions when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.